101 comments/ 81242 views/ 26 favorites Wife Gets What She Wants! By: carvohi Introduction: Here's another story everybody can get pissed off about. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Read the whole thing before you get mad. Don't get mad at me if I say anything about any group of people; it's just part of the story. Please leave a comment and vote when you're done. Here goes! Its late spring; a husband and his wife are in their kitchen. I told her, "I want you to have what you want for yourself." And she told me, "I want the hell out of this marriage." And that was almost that! ++++++++++ Let me back this up just a little. My name is Travis Hamilton. I'm thirty-nine years old. I have a full head of light brown hair, no grey yet. I stand a comfortable 6'2". I weigh a svelte 200lbs, and I have green eyes. I like to think of myself as something of a manly man. Now I'm no fighter, but I know the meaning of hard work. I'm honest and loyal, and I've been a good husband, a good father, and a good provider. I mean I'm dependable, reliable, quiet, and I think I'm pretty smart. My wife, that's Lorna Hamilton nee Dixon, is everything a man could want. She's 5'6", she's a healthy thirty-seven, with blue eyes, and long blond hair. She's a cool 130lbs., and she has a nice rack, I'd say about a 36C. And I mean she's hot and sexy. She's got poise and personality; at least she did, and now she wants a divorce. ++++++++++ I can't say I didn't see it coming; the confrontation and demand for a divorce I mean. We've been married long enough to make three kids. Our oldest is Alex; he's already in college. He got a full ride to Rutgers where he hopes to get involved with quantum mechanics. I'll be honest I wasn't sure a place called Rutgers actually existed until he got a scholarship there, and the idea that there's a thing called quantum mechanics still puzzles me. I'd tell everyone how brilliant he is, but truthfully, he doesn't need me, he's got his mom and his own mouth to take care of that. I mean he's my kid, my own flesh and blood, but I can't say he's my favorite person. Everyone knows we're supposed to love our kids, but that doesn't mean we have to especially like them. He's a real momma's boy that one; yes sir momma's boy right down the line; been that way all his life. Our second is Sarah. She looks like me. Alex looks like his mom; no tits though. Well Sarah's a girl with an attitude. Some people think their shit doesn't stink; well Sarah knows hers doesn't. I don't know where she gets it, actually I do; she's smart like her mom and her big brother, but talk about selfish, narrow minded, and egotistical; that's my Sarah. Sarah finished her senior year and decided to take some time off to 'find herself', whatever that means. She'd just about done it all; homecoming queen, hometown beauty pageant, got all A's like her big brother, and class valedictorian. Let me add when I say she's done it all I mean she's done it all, or done them all I should say. I think she's done just about all the boys in her graduating class, and quite a few of the younger ones. I recall one day last fall I thought I'd clean out her car. What the hell, I bought the damn thing for her, a nearly new Honda Accord. By the way I own an auto body shop. We do auto repairs; we'll fix those wrecked front ends, replace those befouled transmissions, realign tires; we'll even clean the damned things out inside. Back to Sarah. I thought I'd clean out her car, maybe fill her tank, change the oil and put on some new tires. Everyone knows what; all the stuff dad's normally do for their kids. Well I was in her glove compartment making sure she had her insurance and registration cards in place when guess what I found? I found a whole damn bag full of prophylactics. I whole god dam bag of rubbers in my little girl's car! I put them back and went back inside to my then loving wife Lorna and told her. Lorna looked at me and said, "So what; she's been on the pill since the ninth grade." Well crap; I didn't know my sweet little angel was the town whore. Worse, she plans on going to the University of Hawaii; she says she wants to get as far away from home as possible, and she wants to learn to surf. Me I can't think of two better reasons to go to college. Can anyone? I suppose by now everyone's wondering where we live. Well that's easy; we live south of the Mason- Dixon Line, north of the Potomac River, and east of the Chesapeake Bay. I suppose that narrows it down pretty well. OK, on to our last kid. Our last kid, our younger boy; he's the family flop. He's in the twelfth grade; just about to graduate. He'll be eighteen in a short time. He blew off the SAT thing, and guess what; the little turd doesn't have any ambition, none at all. This has really been pissing my wife and my other kids off; little Cable, he's 6'3" by the way, wants to stay home and help me run the business! Damn; he loves cars as much as I do! The stupid asshole wants to be just like his dad! What a disappointment? That leaves me, almost anyway. I am obviously not a well-educated man. I mean I'm only smart enough to have my own business, have enough money to set up college funds for all my kids, buy a nice house, pay everybody's expenses, and still remember to keep oil in the house's heating system in the winter. What a dumb shit me huh! That leaves my ever loving, and now almost leaving wife. Lorna and I met and dated off and on through high school. I'm two years older; like I said I'm thirty-nine and she's thirty-seven. Well I dumped her, or she ditched me after I graduated. I mean its all conjecture. Then in her senior year she found Mr. Right. He was taller than me, stronger than me, smarter than me, and a whole lot prettier than me. He and Lorna hit it off; or actually he got it off and she got knocked up. Well there she was, three months pregnant on the telephone telling me Mr. Right got the word from his friends that she, sweet adorable little Lorna, was the town piglet. Hell I knew that! One of Mr. Right's friends told him, "Why marry her; she's just another piece of ass?" He was so right, but then that's why Lorna the piggy came crying to me. She needed a man, a real man. She needed me. Ok, so I'm a chump. I still loved her. I'd started my business; it was pretty rocky, but I knew I was going to make it. See I knew some things too; I wasn't book smart but I was car smart and I was people smart, except I guess for some women. Anyway I knew cars. I knew auto mechanics! I knew how to repair things, and most important I knew people and people knew me. I learned early on from my dad; he's dead now rest his soul, that a good man never badmouthed other people. He told me a good man kept his opinions to himself. He said things like trust and respect are everything, if people trust a guy they'll work with him, they'll put up with the little mistakes in order to get the big things. My early years in business were tough, tough indeed, but people around town trusted me. If I couldn't do a job I told them. If I thought I could, but felt like I needed to make sure I could do it I'd take the car someplace to get a second check. It cost me money, but it earned me respect, and with respect came clients. So I Married Lorna; turned out she wasn't pregnant after all, or maybe she decided to get rid of it I don't know. I wasn't paying that close of attention back then. Whatever; I ended up married to a girl who'd had high expectations, but suddenly found herself stuck with a 'grease monkey'. Lorna had been a top student. She'd planned on college, a career, and on marrying some rich guy who'd set her up for life. Then Mr. Right came along, he'd thrown a monkey wrench in her plans, and she ended up with me, dare I say again, 'the grease monkey'. I guess a smart girl would have divorced me once she found out she wasn't pregnant, or whatever, but Lorna had decided she didn't want to move back home. She said she preferred living with dirty old me than with moving back with her rich parents who'd spoiled her rotten. Remember I said I loved her. She still wanted college. So we worked it out that she'd get to go to college. Lorna and I started having kids, but she still wanted to go to college. I had an assistant; an inside 'girl' I guess we'd call her something of a 'Girl Friday'. Her name was, is actually, Cassie. Cassie is a 'mixed blood'; she has a black father and a white mother. They're good people too. Of course, the 'one drop rule' makes her black, but one look at her and anyone could see there's a lot more white in that girl than just her mom. Don't forget we live in the South, and it's still pretty provincial in some ways. Notice I didn't say racist. I used her to work the cash register, take calls and schedule appointments. She was, is, terrific. I really liked her. Pretty soon she was doing my books. Oh shit, I was crazy about her. I mean she was just who I needed. She was smart, pretty, and just a tiny little girl. Sure Cassie's a mulatto, but she's terrific, she's the polar opposite of Lorna. Lorna is tall, statuesque, Cassie is tiny. Lorna has the big boobs and the big behind, Cassie is tiny. Lorna is ambitious; Cassie just wants to help out. Lorna wanted college, and we needed a babysitter. A deal was sort of struck. Lorna started out going to night classes. Cassie stayed at our house and took care of the kids when she wasn't with me at the shop. It took Lorna several years, but she got her BS degree. A couple things happened on the way to Lorna's undergraduate degree. Of course we had our three kids, but Cassie seemed to have gotten hung up on some guy. No one knew who he was, and Cassie and I have been completely tight lipped about the whole thing. Well Cassie got pregnant. Cassie got pregnant the same time Lorna got pregnant with Cable. ++++++++++ Now a whole lot of years later, and I've got a wife who wants to leave me; well good. Fuck her! I've got three kids; twenty, nineteen, and almost eighteen, and I've got a single mom, a real sidekick, who's my main non-mechanical helper around the shop and at home, and she's got an almost eighteen year old daughter named Jeannie. I know by now I've put almost everyone to sleep, but fuck it, it's my story and I want to say something about Jeannie. Jeannie's seventeen, almost eighteen. She goes to the same private school Sarah attends. Our boys have gone to public school, but it's well integrated and Lorna didn't want Sarah at public school with all those black boys. Sarah has been going to a private school, Saint Timothy's, since the first grade. She started at public school kindergarten. Jeannie's been at Saint Tim's too. Her mom found the money; it's not cheap, and Jeannie's been there right along with Sarah. Sarah and Jeanie have been 'secret' best friends all their lives; we can't forget Jeannie's not really white, and Sarah can't have a black best friend. If anyone looked at Jeannie they'd know right away, white grand mom aside, her dad had to be white too. If I mean Cassie looks white with her hazel eyes, long wavy reddish hair and caramel complexion, then Jeannie is almost totally white with green eyes, a creamy complexion and long wavy light brown hair. Honestly, Jeannie looks a lot like someone everybody in town knows real well, but no one wants to talk about it. I'm glad they don't too. I mean I've had Cassie and Jeannie in and out of my house for a lot of years. ++++++++++ OK, back to the crap. Lorna finished her undergraduate work and decided she wanted to go to law school. Damn, law school meant out of state and in Delaware if she stayed on the peninsula. I gave in; I arranged an apartment in Wilmington, Delaware. The plan was she'd go to law school up north, but she'd try to manage to get home as many nights as she could. Law school takes a couple years! Pretty soon Lorna was full time in Wilmington and part time with us. We worked it out; Cassie and Jeannie completed their move in with me and Sarah and Cable. Hell they'd been living in my house in their own rooms for years anyway. Between the two of them, Cassie and Jeannie, and a little help from Sarah, the house continued to run pretty smoothly. Shit! That wasn't true! The house ran better with Lorna in Wilmington and Cassie in the house than it did when Lorna was home and in charge. ++++++++++ Now the real crap! Lorna graduated law school, did all the stuff that got her licensed, and she found a job over in Salisbury working at a small firm that had just been set up by a guy named Bernie Taylor. Things starting to come a little clearer now? God damn they better be! Bernie's not a nice guy; well not the lawyer part. He's a real ambulance chaser Bernie is. Interesting, Taylor isn't really his last name. Bernie's real last name is, or was, Goldstein. Goldstein, get it? Look I'm not a prejudiced guy. I have two black girls, all right women, living in my house. A black girl runs my day to day operations at work and to tell the truth, she handles most of my home bookkeeping now for me too. Think about it, Cassie, my little black assistant manages my business accounts and since Jeannie got in high school Cassie's run all my household accounts! Man I'd trust Cassie with my life. Also my number one mechanic is a black guy named Kevin, and when I stop at the tavern I sit over where the black guys sit. Do I sound like a prejudice guy? I don't think so. Come on I'm not a prejudiced man, but Bernie gets to me a little. I don't know any Jewish people really, but then again I've heard stories. Really, ever heard of anyone being Polished or Germaned out of their money. Has anyone ever heard of anyone being Irished or Englished down on a deal? Bernie Taylor! Bernie Taylor my ass! Well I found out some things. Old Bernie is forty-six. He'd sort of been run out of Baltimore for some of what he calls mischievous deals. He's already been married twice. He's what someone might call a serial divorcer! Well hell, he's good. He can get a divorce, and probably get a good 'shyster' lawyer to get him off the hook. I also heard both his wives were what those guys call 'shicksas', or whatever. Yeah, he marries a gentile, gets his rocks off, and then finds a fellow 'you know who' to help him get rid of the 'goy'. I read all this on the Internet. Bernie's not really a bad guy. He's kind of short, maybe 5'8". He's a little overweight, got a nice paunch right out in front there. I have to be honest. I like the guy. He's funny and likable. I guess. ++++++++++ This is where the bullet meets the bone. I'll bet everyone's saying -- finally! Lorna got her job with Bernie Taylor. He'd already started to pull in quite a few clients when she started. Bernie was unattached, and she was an hour and a half away from home. I never thought much about it at first. I was working till six maybe six-thirty each night. I put in a good half a day on Saturdays too. At the shop, when she showed up, Sarah wasn't much good, but Jeannie had started hanging around long about the time she got in the twelfth grade. It was a pretty good deal. Cable was there right after school. Remember, Cable's my youngest, and Jeannie's Cassie's girl. Jeannie showed up about the same time every day. Cassie worked till around four-thirty; then she'd go to my house to prepare dinner. Lorna would get home around seven and we'd all sit around the table and talk. The kids, Cassie and I all ate earlier, but it was nice being able to sit with Lorna and listen to her talk about being a lawyer. I mean neither Cassie nor I knew what the hell she was talking about, but it was fun listening to her. During the day while we were at the shop we'd reflect on all the stuff Lorna did. It was fun. I mean Cassie and I'd sit around a small table in the back. We'd eat sandwiches Cassie made, maybe munch on some of her homemade cookies, drink some coffee, and chat. I liked watching her when she talked; she had these little expressions I liked to see, she always wore pretty little blouses, and she had such tiny hands and delicate wrists. I bought her a necklace; it was a real thin gold chain with a seahorse pendant. I liked the way it dangled down between her breasts. Ok, I bought her a bracelet and wristwatch too. Oh and some sets of earrings. So what! Jeannie was always around the shop all the time. She seemed to be interested in what the mechanics were up to. It was kind of fun, me and Cassie would sit in the office and watch Cable and Jeannie work on a car and tease each other. They always seemed to be next to each other. We never thought a thing of it. That Jeannie is really pretty; like her mother she looks. She and Cable really hit it off. They are really close. I mean really close. After a while Cassie and I worried about it a little, but we were pretty sure that, what Cable being white and Jeannie being, well what she is, they'd never take it anyplace. I mean to just look at her a person would think she was white; it only showed up when someone looked real close. To be truthful, and I'm not saying I prefer one over the other; I think the differences people say they see between black and white girls is just a little overrated. I look at Jeannie, and yeah her mom and I see two of the most beautiful human beings I could imagine. ++++++++++ Back to the story. Some funny things started to happen. First of all Lorna started getting home later and later. Once in a while she'd even stay over in Salisbury all night. That bothered me a little, but Cassie and I realized we had another problem. Cable and Jeannie were starting to get serious. I mean it wasn't just puppy love. Cable had a car, an old Chevrolet Malibu with reclining seats. He had access to my Ford pick-up too. The pick-up has a long bed and extended cab. Cassie and I use the pick-up. She's really little. If she doesn't push the seat way up her feet barely reach the floor. I always took pride in keeping the thing spotless. It was an older vehicle, and I think a lot of my customers liked the idea that I kept older vehicles; it meant I knew how to take care of things I guess. Cassie and I were up late at night a lot worrying about our kids. I remember sometimes we'd get pretty engrossed. We'd be on the sofa, eating popcorn or something, and watching TV. Cassie told me once, "Travis I don't want Jeannie to get mixed up with Cable. This really scares me." I kind of agreed, "Cassie it scares me too. I mean you know how much I love our girl, I mean your girl Jeannie. I don't want her to get hurt. I mean I think we can trust Cable but..." Cassie cut me off, "You know what the problem is. I fell in love with a certain white boy here in town, and you know how that's worked out." I told her, "Cassie you know I'm sorry about that. I wished there was some way I could fix that for you." She smiled at me. She gave me one of her real tender smiles, the kind that made me wilt, "Travis I'm just glad you're around. I mean I'm glad we've been together. I don't know how things would have worked out if..." Sometimes I had to just shut her up with a kiss. Cassie was just so dog on sweet. I kissed her that night. She kissed me back. She had the sweetest lips, the sweetest tasting kisses. I mean it had happened before, but that was one of the nights that was well...special. I told her, "I wished sometimes..." She put her fingers to my mouth. She'd done that before so I wasn't surprised. She said to me, "Life's not always fair." I had to look away. I mean... ++++++++++ Lorna had been missing a lot of home time. Cassie and I started to get suspicious. I mean it was enough worrying about Cable and Jeannie; but having Lorna out all hours of the night was just too much. Cassie had been watching and listening to the way Lorna had been treating me lately. I'd noticed some changes too, but figured it was just her job. Wife Gets What She Wants! We were working together preparing some chili for ourselves and the kids. Lorna had called and said she'd be staying in Salisbury again. She said they had a big settlement or something first thing in the morning. Cassie was getting the chili ready. She knew I'd developed a weak stomach; something the doctors called 'irritable bowel syndrome' so she was being extra careful about how much chili powder to put in. Cassie was always watching what I ate. Cable and Sarah liked a lot of pepper. Jeannie was more like me and liked her chili a little more bland. Lorna liked it hot. Cassie said, "Have you noticed how short Lorna's been with you lately?" I replied, "Yeah, you've seen it too?" Cassie leaned her head on my shoulder. I got a whiff of her perfume. She used Chanel Chance. It smelled extra good. Lorna used something strong, something that dead woman Elizabeth Taylor had made up. I never liked Lorna's smell. I liked Cassie's though. Cassie said, "I think it's disrespectful." I looked down at her. Man when she looked at me with those hazel eyes I always, I mean always, got weak. She had her hair down; it was all ripply the way it fell way down her back. I said, "I wouldn't be too hard on her. She's working hard." Cassie just smiled at me and laughingly replied, "Yeah sure 'my big handsome man'." She sometimes called me her 'big handsome man'. It had to do with a time we were watching a movie on TV. It had some old stars in it; Opie Cunningham, that's Ron Howard in the real world, called his dad 'my big handsome man', and Cassie had started using that phrase on me when she needed to take some air out of my balloon. I looked back at her, "You better watch it or I'll have to give you another..." Cassie started to giggle and back away. Just then Cable and Jeannie walked in. Cable piped up, "You going to give Jeannie's mom another spanking?" Jeannie asked Cable, "Your dad spanks my mom?" Cable just laughed. I started to blush. I looked over at Cassie. She was blushing too. The kids didn't stay. As soon as they skipped out I asked Cassie, "You never..." She looked back at me, "No I never said anything," then she got real serious, "Did you see...they were holding hands." I knew, I paled or something because Cassie got a real concerned look. I said, "We can't let them..." She interrupted me, "I know', then she changed again, "What about your wife?" Cassie said 'your wife' in that special way she used to indicate disapproval. I knew I had to say something, but anything I said would be hurtful to the one person I loved more than anyone else in the world except maybe the kids. I just shrugged and said, "After dinner let's watch some TV." Cassie looked at me, "Hallmark's got a good one tonight." It was strange. Lorna always liked the cop shows. Cassie and I always leaned toward the Hallmark stuff. I replied, "Sure. Want to make some popcorn?" She smiled that oh so sweet smile, "I'll make the popcorn. You pour us each a Soda." After dinner we kind of put Lorna and the kids aside and spent the evening on the sofa watching something with Andie McDowell. I wasn't paying much attention. Cassie had her head on my lap again. That's where she spent most of her time when we watched TV. I couldn't remember when it wasn't like that. ++++++++++ One of Bernie's secretaries had gotten engaged so he planned an office party for everyone. He even invited everybody's kids so that meant Sarah, Jeannie, and Cable got to go, and since Lorna had become something of a muckety muck at her office Cassie got to go as a sort of nanny. It was at the party where the shit finally hit the fan. It was held outside at an old mansion that Bernie had rented for the afternoon and evening. He'd arranged for a small jazz band and another country music group. Cassie and I sort of worked our way over to the country music area. I noticed Lorna was with some of her lawyer friends hanging out at the jazz band area. The bands alternated so there wasn't much trouble hearing one or the other. I liked jazz, but I really preferred country. I knew Cassie; she liked the women of country. So I thought we could waste a little time talking about that. I asked her, "Who's your favorite country girl right now?" Now Cassie's being black didn't deter her from speaking her mind about country music, "You know I think Taylor Swift has gone a little bit over the top lately. Right now my favorite singer is Miranda Lambert." I laughed, "This ain't my momma's broken heart." She laughed too, "I guess you like Blake Shelton?" I gave her one of my famous fake frowns, "No way. I still like Brad Paisley." That made Cassie blush. She softly whistled and said, "Am I going to have to throw water on you again?" That was a reference to the last time we'd gone fishing. We'd taken a blanket and I was asleep on it when she sneaked up on me and poured water on my head. I smiled, "You remember what that'll get you." Cassie looked around, "What you going to throw me in the pool?" That was reminder how after she'd splashed me I'd picked her and carried her to the edge of the lake and had thrown her off a small pier. Boy had that made her mad. I remember she'd had on a loose white blouse and cut offs. When she came out the of the water I got a real tit shot. She was totally pissed, but there had been more; her being partly black meant her hair got all wild looking. She was twenty minutes brushing it back in place. I thought about that and grinned, "No, but I might do it when we get home," that was a reminder that we had a pool in our, I mean Lorna's and my backyard, and how I'd pushed her in it several times over the years. Cassie looked around, "There must be close to a hundred people around here." I looked about, "Yeah, but I don't see Lorna anymore." Cassie was looking too, "I don't see her lawyer friend either," then she rather mischievously added, "Want to go on a treasure hunt?" I asked, "What do you think we'll find?" She replied, "I don't know, but I'd rather be the one to find the treasure than any of the kids." Off we went. It didn't take us long. We walked around the yard; not seeing the people we wanted we went in the house. We passed through the house and were headed back to the main yard when Cassie heard them. Cassie whispered, "Listen." I stopped. We both heard the same thing. They'd found a corner shed, a storage facility really for towels and such, and it was way out of the way. It didn't look very big. We started toward it. Cassie stopped and pulled my arm back, "I don't think you should." I stopped and whispered, "Come on Cassie. We both know about Lorna's law school and Wilmington. This isn't anything new." Cassie looked scared when she said, "Well, you'll catch her this time, and it will change everything." I took her hand, "It might." We walked till we got close enough to hear. What we heard was pretty damning. Lorna was murmuring, "More, more." Bernie started mumbling, "Oh, oh." Then Lorna let out, "Oh hurry up." Cassie and I heard Bernie, "Oh my, Oh shit, Oh Jesus..." I thought it odd that a Jewish man would mention Christ while he was getting it on, but then we heard Lorna, "Come on keep going, I'm not there yet." Then we heard Bernie, "Sorry babe. I'm all used up." Cassie and I both thought we heard Lorna curse. I sort of laughed to myself. I thought, 'So the little guy can't quite keep it up.' Cassie started to pull me away, but I held her up, "No let's wait." A minute or two later Bernie and Lorna stepped from the shed. Bernie was still buckling his pants and pulling his suspenders up. He looked kind of ridiculous; what the suspenders were bright red. I thought of the old joke about the fireman and the red suspenders. I guess I should have been mad; what all indignant and stuff, but I just couldn't take the thing that seriously. I mean Bernie just looked silly. Lorna's makeup was a mess, and her blouse was still out. When they saw us they both just stopped. Then Lorna smiled, took Bernie's hand and walked on past us. Cassie looked at me, "What now?" I looked at her. God she looked upset. I took her two hands in mine, "Look honey, this isn't something we haven't known about. I'll take care of it when I get home." Cassie had tears in her eyes. I wasn't sure if she was happy or sad. She just murmured, "It wasn't anything...me...I mean..." Then she shifted from upset and feeling guilty. I don't know why she'd feel guilty, but she changed from feeling guilty to a little bit angry, angry with me. She said, "Doesn't this make you just a little bit angry?" I pulled her close and held her, "You know Cassie," I felt really good about Cassie, "You're the one truly good person in all of this. Why should I feel angry? Lorna and Bernie? Come on," I just couldn't muster any anger. Why should I? I had who I wanted. Cassie started to cry. I told her, "You run along to the truck. I'll be out there in a minute," The way we'd worked travel to the party Cassie and I had come in my pick-up. Jeannie, Sarah, and Cable and driven the Malibu. I walked all around the grounds till I found the kids. They were over by one of the kegs. The first thing I said was, "You all haven't gotten a snoot full?" Cable had his arm around Jeannie. Sarah was holding her hand. I thought it strange. Cable answered me, "No we're cool. Jeannie's our designated driver." I told them, "Me and Jeannie's mom are leaving now." That's when Cable got me, "Caught em huh." Jeannie looked surprised. She always was the innocent one. Sarah smiled and turned to me, "You didn't know did you?" I looked at the ground. I sort of lied. I knew a lot, "Not exactly; not till today." Sarah told me, "Kick her ass to the curb dad." I looked up surprised. Sarah wanted me to burn her mother down? If there was anyone I would have suspected who would have defended Lorna I thought it would have been Sarah, "You want me too?" Sarah interrupted me, "Dad you're too good for her. Everyone knows who your real wife is." Jeannie looked around at all of us, "Who's that?" Cable tightened his grip on Jeannie and gave Sarah a meaningful look; he looked back at Jeannie, "I'll tell you later." Jeannie looked up at Cable with one of her determined stares, "No tell me now." Sarah put an arm around Jeannie then too, "Later girl. You can wait a little longer." I could tell Jeannie still didn't have a clue. I knew who they meant though, I told the three of them, "We'll see you back at the house," I left while Sarah and Cable were still chatting up Jeannie. Brother I thought, 'There's going to be hell to pay tonight.' ++++++++++ Somehow as I walked back to our, my truck I didn't feel bad. I knew this day would someday come. I was just kind of glad we were going to get it over with. I got to the truck. Cassie was already inside. I got in and started it up. I looked over, "The kids all know. I think Sarah and Cable know everything." Cassie looked across the seat at me. God she looked so scared. She looked so beautiful. Her hair was in a loose fitting bun. She must have just fixed it. She hadn't worn any makeup. As far as I was concerned she never needed any. She asked, "What about Jeannie?" I reached across and pulled her closer. The truck had a gap between the two front seats, but I still wanted her as close as I could get her, "I think she's a complete innocent. I want to talk to Cable, find out what and how much he knows. I'll be having it out with Lorna. Then we'll see about Jeannie." Cassie touched my cheek with her hand. I leaned into it. She asked, "You OK? I mean about Lorna?" I smiled at her, "Oh yeah." Cassie cupped my chin, "You sure?" I pulled the truck to the side of the road. I undid her seatbelt and pulled her over on my lap. I kissed her, "Never been more." Cassie started to cry then she hiccoughed the tears back, "Oh Travis...I feel like I've been set free." I kissed her again, "We both have." I let her get back to her seat. I restarted the truck and we pulled back out on the road. All the way back I kept thinking. I'd hired Cassie nineteen years ago. Jeannie was seventeen; she'd soon be eighteen. She was my kid. I knew it. Cassie knew it. Most of the people in town knew it. I think Lorna probably knew it. Yeah, I was the white guy everybody whispered about. Of course Jeannie being mine meant responsibility. That's why I'd paid her tuition to Saint Tim's, that's why she got all the things Sarah got. I'd just always kept it a secret. I'd even kept most of it a secret from Cassie. Cassie thought Jeannie had gotten a scholarship to Saint Tim's. No she hadn't; her kindergarten scores had only been average. I'd paid for everything, every book, every uniform, every field trip, all of it. I'd fixed it so Cassie was able to buy gifts, nice gifts for Jeannie at Christmas, and birthdays and dresses for Easter. Of course Cassie knew all that. Truth was I did some of it because I was afraid Cassie might leave me. I was so wrong. I was so wrong, I was dead wrong. Cassie loved me. She loved me like I don't know what. I loved her too. She was my angel. Hell Jeannie was my angel too, just like Sarah. Now we had to explain things to Cable and Jeannie. I think Sarah knew. I hoped Cable did. I wondered about Jeannie. How could one be so innocent while the others had it figured out? How could she be so innocent in the face of so much evidence? I kept thinking for nineteen years I'd been married to the wrong woman while I was sharing my life with the right one. Now we'd be able to work it all out. Sure Lorna loved me; she loved the security, she loved the free education, she loved the freedom from her parents, but did she love me, me, Travis Hamilton? No, I never thought she did. I wondered if I ever really loved her, or was it just the idea of having her. But there was the girl, no I mean woman, beside me now; she'd loved me, she'd loved me so much she'd passed up several chances to marry someone else. She'd had chances too, good chances. That's the main reason why I knocked her up; yeah I tricked her, I had to keep her close. Hell, it never mattered. She stuck by me when the only thing I'd ever promised her was a healthy 401K. She'd been there when the business had been rocky. She never flinched, not once; my little angel, my little caramel angel with the tiny tits, auburn hair and hazel eyes. I looked over. God was I one lucky son-of-a-bitch. I mean no other woman would have stuck it out this long. ++++++++++ Cassie has her thoughts. I glanced across the truck at Travis. I kept wondering; was this it? Was this the time? I thought back on a lot of the things that had happened to us over the years. Travis, Lorna, and I had all gone to the same high school. I'd been a freshman when Travis was a senior. My mom is white and my dad is black so I was a mixed up mess. All through elementary and middle school kids teased me. Some of them had been downright mean. Maybe it was my imagination, but Travis always seemed to be around. I don't know how it happened, but he always seemed to be there. He wasn't some big jock; he was just a guy, but the other kids, they like respected him. I found out why pretty quick. I remember there was a time this big black guy, a real jock, decided I was supposed to be his girl. Well I was light skinned, and he was dark. He was big too. I bet he was 6'4', and I bet he weighed a lot. He had big muscles. He was on the basketball team; starting center I think. He was on the team when the season began; later he got cut later because of bad grades and poor attendance. Yeah he'd picked me out. I didn't like him. He scared me. One day he sort of backed me into a corner just outside the cafeteria. Guess who showed up; that's right Travis! He just kind of sauntered over and told Daryl, that was the boy's name, he said, "Daryl leave the munchkin alone." Daryl started to say something, but Travis just cut him off. He told Daryl, "Look big guy she doesn't like you. You're just not her type." I could see Daryl wanted to punch Travis's eyes out. He didn't though, but he said, "What you think maybe you're her type." Travis looked at me. He kind of smiled this funny smile he had when he was thinking about something. I knew that smile because I watched him all the time. Well he looked me up and down and told Daryl, "Maybe she is." Daryl just mumbled something under his breath, something about getting somebody. Then he walked off. I thought like wow! I was a munchkin! No I wasn't a munchkin I was the munchkin! I was Travis's munchkin. I've always had a special feeling about the movie 'The Wizard of Oz' since then. Imagine me a munchkin; it was like a term of endearment. Was I ever in love? Travis walked over to me and asked, "You all right?" I was so befuddled I just nodded. He smiled and started to walk away, but then he turned back around and said, "You know you're kind of cute." That did it. That just did it. I knew who I was going to marry. Travis had always been real honest, and he'd always been fair to everybody. I never heard anyone say anything bad about him, and later when I got a chance and was able to actually be around him I found out he never badmouthed other people. I couldn't think of anyone who was so even with so many people. He was handsome too. I mean I look at him now, and he's a real man, I mean all man, but he was like that even when everybody was just kids. I don't know; maybe I'm prejudiced. I just feel that way. I remember when we all had his senior homecoming. Lorna was the homecoming queen, and she had some really big guy on her arm all night. I could see Travis thought he loved her, but he held it in. He held his feelings in check. I wanted him so much! I got one of my friends to get him to ask me to dance. Now I was the mulatto girl right? He came right over and asked me to dance. Then we danced three more times. His arms were around me. He was so strong. He smelled good; Old Spice I thought, turned out I was right. No sweet smelling girlie cologne for my Travis. He used a man's aftershave. I felt so special, I mean secure and well, happy I guess. Anyway that was the night I fell in love. I mean fell in love even more. I was a good girl. I never gave 'it' away. I knew who I wanted. OK, I tricked him. He got started on his business. I wangled a way into his office to get a job. I sort of hinted to him that it would look good if he had a black girl as his secretary. I was surprised; he told me I wasn't a black girl. He said I was just a girl, a pretty girl, and that he liked me. If I hadn't known before I sure knew then! I knew what I had to do; I had to make myself indispensable. I did too! I became his alter-ego. He got to work early. I got to work early. He worked late. I worked late. I'd started working for him in my senior year. It was tough working after school till seven eight o'clock at night, going home doing homework, and then getting up early to go to school only to go back to his shop in the afternoon. I did it though. I did it because I knew who I wanted. My mother had warned me not to trust any white boys. She said they'd just use me. My dad worked all the time; I knew he loved me but he was just too tired. My dad was funny. He was a big man. My mom was tall, but she looked little beside him. I had three younger brothers. I can say they really toed the mark. My dad was tough that way. We all had to obey my mom. No back sass was allowed. He treated my mom like she was some kind of princess. I told my mom I knew Travis. I told her he was like my dad. I don't think she believed me. I still think she's not sure. My dad's sure though. He's known my plan all along. He's as devious as I am. I knew I had the right guy. I told mom and dad I just had to fight. I had to get him. Now my waiting was almost over. Wife Gets What She Wants! I think back to my first year after high school; that's when I got him, or actually he got me. Oh he thought he got me, but I'd tricked him. He was so tired that night. He was so disappointed in Lorna. I was there to catch him. Lorna was his wife, but she just wasn't right for him. She'd started playing around behind his back almost soon as they got married. I didn't. I didn't play. I knew who I was after, I got pregnant. I knew then I had him. I just didn't know how loyal, how faithful, the cuss could be. Heck, after that first time it took him a week before he even talked to me. He looked so guilty all the time. I had to talk to him. I was afraid he was going to fire me. He didn't though. I told him what we did was what I wanted. After that it got easier, but every time afterward, and I mean for years afterward he'd always get this silly look, this silly guilty look after we did something. I want to say this. Though he's the only man I've ever been with, I know he's the best. He's so gentle. He's careful not to hurt me, and he always, I mean always makes sure I have my pleasure before he stops. That's just the kind of guy he is; always putting other people first. I mean I thought once he got me pregnant we'd really be at it. That was a scary time! He kept talking about confessing to his wife. I told him not to. I told him I'd stay with him for always, and he'd never have to tell her. He didn't like it, but he finally agreed. Gee, I remember I thought for a while I'd really lost him, but I also knew then that he loved me. He really loved me! Now it was almost over. My dream was about to come true. ++++++++++ Back to Travis. I didn't say anything on the way back home. Cassie didn't say anything either. I kept going over in my head how much money Lorna made, and how much I made with the shop. If she wanted to she could clean me out, but I didn't want to start over, not with her. If I had to start over, I'd sell the business and start over with Cassie. We got back and went in and sat in the kitchen. Cassie asked, "Want some coffee?" I said, "I'd love some." We sat and drank coffee and looked at each other till the kids got home. They pulled up and all three got out. They came straight in the kitchen. I eyed Cable, "We need to talk." He answered, "I don't think so, but if you think we do." I motioned toward the living room, "Follow me into the living room," We left Sarah, Jeannie, and Cassie in the kitchen. Once we got in the living room I asked Cable, "How much do you know?" He stammered a little first but finally answered, "Everything I guess." I asked him, "You know about Jeannie?" He smiled, "I've known about her since we were in the tenth grade." I was surprised, "You did?" He chuckled, "You ever looked at us. I mean taken a good look? And then there's you and Jeannie's mom. Besides, mom told me." I asked him, "How do you feel about...you know?" He replied, "I was mad at you when I first found out about you and Jeannie's mom, but I was only a sophomore in high school then. I told mom. That's when she told me about Jeannie." "You told your mother?" "Yeah I told her, but she already knew. She didn't say anything about Cassie though. She just told me Cassie was your little playmate, and to not worry about it. So I guess I didn't." I was dumfounded, "All this time and you knew." "Look dad it's not 'all this time'. I was in the tenth grade. It's been what two years. I watched you. I knew Alex knew, and pretty soon Sarah knew too. Heck dad, mom didn't care." I had to ask, "Does Jeannie know?" That's when I knew we had a problem. Cable took a deep breath, "She suspects something, but not that." I asked, "What's going on with you and Jeannie?" Cable took another big breath, "We're serious dad. We love each other." "Christ, you're both only kids. You don't know what you want." He stared at me, "No dad I think we do." I got pissed, "I can't allow it. Cassie and I won't allow it. You're brother and sister. That's incest. It's against the law." I watched Cable as he breathed in and got ready to reply. I thought this was a kid? He said, "It's only incest if a lot people know about it. So far only a few people know. In a few weeks we'll both be of legal age. We'll get married, and then it will be too late." I was kind of scared. I asked, "Have you...done...?" He laughed, "Not a chance, not with her." I breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank God,' I thought for small favors. I said, "Let's go back in the kitchen. I expect your mom will be here soon." Cable took my hand, "Dad, no matter what; Sarah and I already talked. We'll still love you both. You and mom have both been good to us. So has Cassie." 'Damn,' I thought, 'I'd done a pretty good job.' We both walked back in the kitchen. ++++++++++ Hell showed up driving her silver BMW. Lorna parked in front of the house, and stalked in like she was an angry mother bear about to kill someone. I ushered the children and Cassie out of the kitchen. Lorna sat down, she had her right hand in her lap hidden beneath the table, her left hand rested comfortably under her chin, index finger sat defiantly on her cheek, elbow on the edge of the table. She looked at me, "Now you know so what happens next?" I told her, "I want you to have what you want for yourself." She snarled at me, "I want the hell out of this marriage." This was it! I asked, "You're sure?" She started, "Look I do love you Travis, but not like you want me to. I mean you're a nice guy, a great guy. You've been a good provider. You were a big help to me with college and law school. You're just not what I want, not any more. Truth is you never were." I was a little put off, 'I was a help, a measly help, for all her college? Crap, without me there would never have been any college.' I didn't tell her that. I asked, "How long has this been going on? I mean you and Bernie." She scoffed, "Me and Bernie? Damn it Travis I was in bed with the guy you called Mr. Right two months after we were married. Shit Travis; don't be an asshole. How do you think I got through college? I'm surprised you never found out. Then again you had your little thingy didn't you?" I interrupted, "You found out about Cassie?" She laughed, "Found out. You all but announced it. Damn it Travis Jeannie's your kid. I knew that the first time I saw Cassie was knocked up. And hey, you don't think you were pulling anything over on me about sending her to Saint Timothy's. I checked up. Little Miss Jeannie barely had enough spunk to get out of kindergarten. I know you paid her way. In fact I was kind of proud of that. Your little tryst with your 'pick-a-ninny' just made it easier for me to do what I wanted." I told her, "Hey come on, no names." She laughed louder and with open derision, "Whatever. Look you don't think I earned my law degree. I slept my way through law school. Bernie's just my latest. But I'll tell you; he's going to be my last. I'm ditching you and then Bernie and I are getting married." I was kind of pissed; not pissed enough to stir her up. I still wasn't sure about my business. I asked, "You had so little respect for me..." Lorna cut me off, "Look respect is just another seven letter word as in asshole. Respect! Respect you? I can't stand the sight of work boots. If I see another pair of overhauls I'll puke. I can't remember ever seeing you with clean fingernails, and just for the record, you leave grease smudges on your face every time you pick your nose. I'm sick of the smell of grease. I'm glad Cassie was here so much; she got to clean up your shit. Talk about shit. I see you and all I think about is skid marks in the toilet, shit stains on the towels, and pee marks on the toilet seat because you can't remember to lift it." I wasn't totally surprised. Cassie had been complaining about the same things. I promised myself to make sure I stopped being such a crud. I asked Lorna, "So this is it?" She shrugged, "Guess so." I asked the biggie, "How do we split things up." She really smiled then, "Bernie's got a friend who's working that up." I laughed then, "Well that ought to do it." Lorna laughed again, then she said, "Look Travis I still love you, but not in that way. We have three great kids. I want to stay friends OK?" I looked out across the room and out the kitchen window, "Well that's going to be pretty much up to Bernie's friend then isn't it?" She gave me a more thoughtful smile, "I don't want your business Travis, and I sure don't want this crappy house." That eased my mind immensely. Then she closed the conversation, "I'm going to pack some things now. You'll be hearing from my lawyer in a few days. We'll separate based on irreconcilable differences. Let's make this a clean and tidy break. And Travis I mean it. I still want to be friends." I got up and walked over. I started to kiss her on the lips but she turned her head. I kissed her cheek. That was good enough for me. I said, "We'll work it out," About an hour later she was packed and for the most part gone. I stood in the kitchen all alone. Cassie and the kids were still in the living room. I'm sure they were waiting for me to call them in and say something. I gave Lorna about ten good minutes. I mean I felt sad. We'd been together for something like twenty-five years. I mean all told. I mean counting high school and all. It was kind of sad. But there was Cassie, my Cassie; and that had been going on almost as long as Lorna when I thought about knowing her in high school. I remembered dancing with her at homecoming. I remembered asking her if she remembered; I wasn't sure, but she said she did. ++++++++++ I guess all that was left was Jeannie; Jeannie and how to break Cable and her apart without too much damage. I called the kids and Cassie back in. Cassie got to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist, "You OK?" I answered, "Yeah I think so. Yeah I'm good," I looked at Jeannie, "Jeannie sit down honey," I pointed to a chair. She sat down. Cassie, Cable, and I all joined her. Cassie started, "Jeannie honey there's something you have to know." That's when Cable stopped her, "Wait a minute," he got up and left the room, but was back in a second with the dining room mirror. He sat down right beside Jeannie and handed me the mirror. He said, "Dad you do the honors." I held the mirror up so the two kids could see each other side by side. Sarah was standing behind them. Cable asked, "See anything sweetheart." He said sweetheart. I almost cried; well not cried just kind of choked up. I looked at Cassie; she was crying. Jeannie looked at their images in the mirror, "No just us." Cable said, "Look closer." She looked closer. Cable asked, "See anything now?" She shook her head no. That's when we all knew that she knew too. She denied it. She looked at Cable, "No I don't see anything special, just us two." He started crying, "Jeannie we look alike. We look almost exactly alike," then he exploded into tears, "Jeannie you're my sister. My dad and your mom. We're..." Jeannie jumped from her chair and ran from the room. She had a room in the house, and that's where she ran and hid. I thought, 'Jesus Christ, what could have been worse?' ++++++++++ Time moved rapidly after that. I mean the die had been cast. Jeannie hid out in her room for three weeks. That screwed up the last days of her school program, but we made the decision to let her choose her own time. Eventually she came out, got back in school and finished up. She didn't make the honor roll or anything, but nobody expected it. The only thing we could say about the poor girl was that she was pathetic. Jeannie's one and only constant was Sarah. Sarah stopped being Jeannie's 'secret best friend' and made it clear to everyone they were sisters and no one better ever say anything bad. I was really proud of her. She'd been a real shit most of her life, but she really stepped it up for Jeannie. She was still sleeping around though. I'd hoped Cable would've been a mainstay, but he took it as bad as Jeannie. He got in the Malibu, drove to the bank, pulled out his savings and ran away. He wasn't a complete idiot though. He only ran as far as Milford, Delaware. I found out where he was, and went to see him. He and I had one of our talks. I told him "You know you're not going to graduate." He answered, "I can take the GED." I asked, "You have any plans?" He looked at me like I was from Mars, "I'm going to work for you." That made me feel pretty good; the running away was a temporary thing. I asked him, "What about Jeannie?" He answered, "What about Jeannie?" I said, "Are you two..." He answered, "I don't know," then he looked at me, "What does she want?" I told him, "Are you kidding? You know what she wants." He didn't say anything for a couple minutes; he just smiled. Then he said, "Tell Jeannie to hold on." I told him I would. ++++++++++ Bernie did us a favor about the divorce settlement. Yeah, I mean for a wife stealer he turned out to be a decent guy, but then again I couldn't have said he stole something stolen if it wasn't really mine. For Bernie it seemed he wanted to marry Lorna as soon as possible so he wanted to keep the divorce thing from going to court. I was glad of that. I got to keep my business and the house. We split our savings fifty-fifty, and I had a pretty hefty 401K and she didn't have much so I emptied half of mine and threw it in as a sweetener. Bernie laughed. He said I didn't have to do it. He said it was only money. I thought, 'What do you know about that.' The divorce came through pretty quick; a lot faster than I thought. Later that summer I asked Cassie to marry me. She said yes. I decided to ask her in a special way. We were already living together, but I decided to drive her home to her parents. We took Jeannie with us. By this time Sarah was finally getting ready for college but she insisted that she go too. She'd given up on the Hawaii thing and the surfing and decided to try the University of Maryland at College Park. I was gung-ho for that. I think she was too really. We all got in the car and drove over to Cassie's parents' I went in and in front of everybody, me, a thirty-nine year old man asked a septuagenarian if I could marry his thirty-five year old daughter. Man the son-of-bitch cried. I mean he was blubbering, just slobbering, like big tears. I was so glad; it was the greatest thing I could have done. He even said yes. Then I got down on one knee and dropped the ring on Cassie. She let me put it on her finger. Her mom was crying. Jeannie was crying. Cassie was crying. Sarah was crying. Hell we were all crying! Even me! Especially me! We got married on Labor Day weekend. Cassie's dad walked his daughter down the aisle. Sarah and Jeannie were two of the six bridesmaids. The church was packed. Since Cable was still hiding out I got Alex to come be my best man. Hell the asshole hadn't even been told his mom and dad were split up. He didn't seem to mind; I mean it was all about quantum mechanics with him anyway. It was a wonderful wedding. I didn't know Cassie and her parents were Presbyterians. I thought all black people were Methodists. If I had known I think I would have tried to have been a better person; what with the John Calvin thing and all. It sure was a great wedding; only one thing was missing. But that changed as soon as we walked out of the church. Right there on the sidewalk was Cable. He was all dressed up, dressed in a tuxedo like the rest of us. He ignored all of us though. He went straight to Jeannie, got down on one knee and damn if he didn't propose. We were all blown away. Of course she said yes; the half-brother sister thing didn't mean shit. There has to be an epilogue. We all were invited to Bernie's and Lorna's wedding. They had a civil ceremony. Lorna was too Baptist to go Jewish, and Bernie was too Jewish to go Baptist. So Lorna got her rich successful businessman, and Bernie, the serial divorcer, got his third gentile wife. They both looked pretty happy. I wondered how long Bernie would keep her around. Cassie and I, after nineteen years, had tied the knot so we were happy. Her mom and dad seemed satisfied. Her three brothers had all been ushers. Sarah got to get away from home just not as far from home as she'd originally planned, and Jeannie and Cable have been making plans. He said he'd work and send her to college. She told him not on her life. So who won? Well nobody I guess; then again maybe we all won. Isn't that the way life sometimes works? I don't know, as long as Jeannie and Cable don't have any two headed kids or anything we'll all be all right. Don't worry I'd never say anything like that to anyone. Heck, I'm just glad I finally got my little munchkin, and I think she's pretty happy too. She says she is. We cuddle every night. That's it, the end. Don't forget to leave a comment. Vote if you like.